Even the media frequently mistakes the
difference between Faster-Than-Light (FTL), Hyperspace, and
Voidspace travel. Some of this confusion is due to common language
uses, and the fact that Voidspace travel is relatively new and
misunderstood. Without going too far into technical difference,
here's a brief description of each.

Faster-Than-Light (FTL) Travel is still only a theory. Traditional
space travel involves sub-light (SL) movement between two points.
That's how people have been traveling for millennia, and it's still
the best way to cover short distances. Before the discovery of
Hyperspace transport, scientists believed interstellar travel was at
best impractical due to the hard limits of light speed, and
Einstein's special theory of relativity, which states that objects
that approach the speed of light 'slow down' in relative time, even
as time progresses normally around them. So a fellow stepping onto a
spacecraft for a round-trip of ten light years would think his
journey to be nearly instantaneous, but meanwhile ten years would
have passed back home.

Scientists are still attempting to harness tachyon particles - tiny
bits of energy that have still not been proven to exist, which are
believed to travel faster than the speed of light - for use in
communication systems. Should this system actually work, it could
prove quite a change to human society, as these particles could
actually arrive at their destination before they were sent, assuming
Einstein's special theory holds beyond light speed.

Hyperspace Travel was discovered just over one hundred years ago,
and has been responsible for the colonization of space. Hyperspace
Travel has been referred to as a "Galactic Freeway." It is a
parallel dimension of space analogous to our own as the sky is to a
mountain range. You can cross a mountain on foot - like we travel
through normal space - or you could hop into an air-car and skip the
mountain entirely. To somebody who can't see the sky, it would
appear as if you simply disappeared from one spot, and reappeared on
another on the opposite side of the mountain.

The problem with Hyperspace travel is that it is very expensive, and
also somewhat unpredictable. While the energy requirements are much
less than it would take to cross space through conventional means,
it still takes an enormous amount of energy to project a ship
through hyperspace. Navigation is very difficult, which means the
arrival point is never guaranteed. The margin of error increases
based upon the distance traveled, so a ship traveling 20 light
years' distance could be off by as much as a full light year upon
its arrival. In deep space, this is not much of a concern, but it
brings with it a risk of arriving in a space occupied by, say, a
planet or small star. For safety reasons, then, most ships travel
through hyperspace in a series of shorter 'hops'.

Prior to the discovery of Voidspace, communications were still
limited to the speed of light. This meant that it was much faster to
send a message via a courier ship than to broadcast it to even a
nearby star.

Thirty
years ago, a scientist named Ethan Blade discovered the existence of
Void Points (and, arguably, Voidspace*). If Hyperspace is analogous
to the sky above a mountain range, Void Points are a network of
tunnels going through the mountains. Space is frequently referred to
as a 'void,' but in reality it is filled with innumerable particles
and forces, many of which we did not even know existed until just a
few years ago. Voidspace is another 'parallel region' of space,
another dimension if you will, where virtually none of these forces
and elements exist. Even the laws of physics, as they are understood
in normal space, no longer apply or are greatly mutated. An object
in Voidspace can literally drift across the galaxy in a matter of
hours, using little more energy that a ship might use to fly from
Earth to the moon.

The problem is that traveling between Voidspace and normal space is
an entirely different matter. Under normal circumstances, the amount
of energy required is equal to that output by a large star. In fact,
that is exactly what happens with a 'black hole' - the incredibly
concentrated gravitational force punches a permanent hole between
the normal space and Voidspace. Unfortunately, that same force is
unbelievably destructive to anything even approaching a black hole,
so these natural openings are useless for any sort of practical
purpose.

The barrier between normal space and Voidspace is not universally
impenetrable, however. Throughout the universe there are a number of
"void points" where very little effort need be exerted for an object
to be propelled between the two regions of space. These points are
not static - some may only exist for less than a microsecond. Many
exist for much longer. Ethan Blade discovered many Void Points which
have remained for decades, and will likely have lifespans as long as
their neighboring stars. Using** a technology still not fully
understood, he arranged a number of pylons to mark each point and
assist in propelling a ship between normal space and void space.
When Ethan's marked points were later rediscovered and understood,
these linked void points were used as something of a "galactic
highway" network.***

The benefits of Voidspace transportation are clear - compared even
to hyperspace travel, Voidspace travel is several orders of
magnitude faster and cheaper. However, the limited number of void
points means that many destinations lay far beyond their nearest
void point, requiring hyperspace travel for that leg of the journey.

Unfortunately, if Dr. Blade had any means of calculating the
positions of void points, he did not document them. To this day, the
discovery of new, relatively stable void points only occurs by
random detection, and to date only two such void points have been
found.****

Notes:

* Some scientists debate whether or not Dr. Blade actually
discovered Voidspace, as he did not document his findings adequately
and there is no proof that he used or was even aware of Voidspace.
However, most scholars agree that the arrangement of pylons around
the Voidpoints to facilitate Voidspace travel could not have been an
accident. Still, groups anxious to promote the accomplishments of
their own members are quick to point out that Ethan's failure to
provide documentation of his own discoveries amounts to his work
being nothing more than the happy accidents of a madman, and that
the title of "father of Voidspace" should be given to another who
followed proper procedure.

** Again, certain parties complain bitterly if any assumption is
made that Ethan Blade found and marked void points by any means
other than pure random chance.

*** After much bitter warfare for ownership.

**** Two additional void points were found that proved to be
unstable, disappearing within months of discovery. There have been
several unconfirmed reports of discoveries of void points of even
shorter longevity, disappearing before their existence could be
independently verified.